Myocardial concentrations of fatty acids in dogs with dilated cardiomyopathy

OBJECTIVE: To compare myocardial concentrations of fatty acids in dogs with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) with concentrations in control dogs. SAMPLE POPULATION: Myocardial tissues from 7 dogs with DCM and 16 control dogs. PROCEDURE: Myocardial tissues were homogenized, and total fatty acids were extracted and converted to methyl esters. Myocardial concentrations of fatty acids were analyzed by use of gas chromatography and reported as corrected percentages. RESULTS: The amount of docosatetraenoic acid (C22:4 n-6) was significantly higher in myocardial samples from dogs with DCM (range, 0.223% to 0.774%; median, 0.451%), compared with the amount in samples obtained from control dogs (range, 0.166% to 0.621%; median, 0.280%). There were no significant differences between DCM and control dogs for concentrations of any other myocardial fatty acids. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Although concentrations of most myocardial fatty acids did not differ significantly between dogs with DCM and control dogs, the concentration of docosatetraenoic acid was significantly higher in dogs with DCM. Additional investigation in a larger population is warranted to determine whether this is a primary or secondary effect of the underlying disease and whether alterations in fatty acids may be a target for intervention in dogs with DCM.     

Effect of mastitis during the first lactation on production and reproduction performance of Holstein cows

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of postpartum mastitis between first calving and subsequent conception on production and reproduction performance as well as culling of Holstein cows. A data set of 9,183 first lactation cows was used. Results showed that the first cumulative 100?days' milk production and the milk yield standardized to 305?days were affected by the interval from calving to first mastitis (P??0.05). Calving year, calving difficulty score, and cumulative first 60?days milk production had significant impacts on mastitis risk (P?相似文献   

Vitamin D Deficiency Impairs Spatial Learning in Adult Rats

Background: Through its membrane and intracellular receptors, vitamin D regulates many vital functions in the body including its well known actions on musculoskeletal system. Growing body of evidences demonstrate that vitamin D undergoes some of behavioral aspects of neurocognition. The present study was designed to evaluate the effect of food regimens without vitamin D or with a supplement of 1,25(OH)₂D3 on spatial performance of adult rats. Methods: The animals were trained in the Morris water maze to find a hidden platform. The time spent and the distance traveled to find the platform, speed of navigation and the percentage of unsuccessful trials were considered for assessment of the task learning. Results: Our findings indicated that the vitamin D-deprived rats had a significant lower performance compared to both the controls and the animals receiving 1,25(OH)₂D3 supplementation. Concerning the unsuccessful trials, lack of vitamin D resulted in the highest failures in the maze navigation. The regimen with additional 1,25(OH)₂D3 did not considerably influence learning of the maze task. Conclusion: We concluded that while vitamin D deficiency deteriorates the spatial task learning, the 1,25(OH)₂D3 supplementation did not effectively underlie the maze performance. Key Words: Vitamin D, Maze learning, Dietary supplements     

Biofortification of onion bulb with selenium at different levels of sulfate

In this research experiment, two commercial onion cultivars (Allium cepa L., cvs. Dorrcheh and Cebolla Valenciana) were grown in sand culture and exposed to two levels of selenium (Se) (0 and 25?µM) and two levels of sulfate (1 and 3?mM). According to the results obtained, addition of 25?µM Se in combination with 3?mM sulfate was not only effective in significant increase of onion bulb yield, but it significantly increased Se concentration of bulb. By considering the average consumption of onion in central Iran, the daily intake of Se via consumption of Se-biofortified onion is estimated to be 68.4–77.2?µg in spring and summer and 72.6–117.1?µg in fall and winter. These amounts of daily intakes of Se is higher than the sufficient levels of Se recommended by world health organization (WHO) but less than the maximum tolerable level of Se (400?µg Se per day) for human.     

Quercetin attenuates H2O2‐induced toxicity of rooster semen during liquid storage at 4°C

Current study was carried out to examine the protective effects of quercetin against toxicity induced by hydrogen peroxide in rooster semen in vitro. Semen samples were collected from ten roosters (Ross 308 broiler breeder males, 32 weeks old) twice a week by abdominal massage method. Samples with ≥70% progressive motility were selected, pooled, diluted and used for the study. Experimental groups consisted of negative control, control that received solvent of quercetin, H₂O₂ (40 μM) and combination groups which incubated with constant dose of H₂O₂ (40 μM) plus various levels of quercetin (20, 40 and 80 μM). Measurement of total hydroperoxide (HPO), malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NO), total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and superoxide dismutase activity as well as routine sperm tests were done at 0, 24 and 48 hr of storage at 4°C. Results revealed that exposure to hydrogen peroxide significantly increased HPO (138.43 ± 7.32 vs. 66.08 ± 3.97 μmol/g protein), MDA (7.21 ± 0.08 vs. 5.71 ± 2.16 μmol/g protein) and NO (0.367 ± 0.013 vs. 0.215 ± 0.011 μmol/g protein) levels and decreased sperm progressive motility (27.28 ± 1.21 vs. 47.49 ± 1.29%), and amounts of TAC (11.49 ± 0.39 vs. 15.70 ± 0.79 mmol/g protein) compared to control at 24 hr (p < 0.05). Changes at mentioned variables were repeated at 48 hr of storage. Also, co‐administration of quercetin (especially at 40 and 80 μM) with hydrogen peroxide restored the toxic effects of hydrogen peroxide on rooster semen parameters such as primary and secondary lipid peroxidative indicators and other evaluated variables. The study concluded that rooster semen enrichment with quercetin would protect lipid peroxidative and nitrosative hydrogen peroxide‐mediated damage during cold liquid storage of rooster semen.     

Stress Relaxation and Oscillatory Tests to Distinguish Between Doughs Prepared from Wheat Flours of Different Varietal Origin

The relaxation properties of flour-water-salt doughs prepared from four different flour types (weak, medium, strong, and extra strong) at different water absorption levels from 58 to 66% with protein contents of 10.0, 10.9, 13.2, and 11.8%, respectively, were studied by imposing varying strain amplitudes of 0.1–29%. Oscillatory tests in the linear viscoelastic region of the 66% absorption strong and weak dough cannot distinguish between the two types of dough. The inability to differentiate between dough types also applied to oscillatory tests on 58% absorption weak and 66% absorption strong doughs. However, the relaxation modulus of dough (extending over time) behaved quite distinctively at high strains, where dough samples experience large deformations. At strain amplitudes of ≤0.1% (i.e., in the linear viscoelastic region), different dough types behaved similarly. Likewise, the relaxation modulus completely relaxed at sufficiently long times. The magnitude of the modulus at intermediate- and high-strain amplitudes were in the order: extra strong > strong > medium > weak, indicating a higher level of elasticity in the extra strong dough samples despite its lower protein content. The relaxation times spectrum of the weak flour, extracted from the relaxation modulus data, reveals a broad relaxation process. The stress relaxation data are very reproducible at high-strain amplitudes (≈1–15% for up to 3 × 10³ sec). This work demonstrated, for the first time, the consistency in oscillatory and relaxation measurements for dough. It also clearly showed that linear viscoelastic data, although important in the characterization of time scales in dough, are largely irrelevant in differentiating between dough types. Furthermore, without proper care, a false steady-state behavior can be obtained with standard viscometric measurements due to slippage at the dough-plate interface.     

Postharvest polyamine application alleviates chilling injury and affects apricot storage ability

Fruit of two apricot cultivars 'Bagheri' and 'Asgarabadi' were treated with putrescine (Put) or spermidine (Spd) at 1 mM and then were stored at 1 °C for 21 days. Fruit were sampled weekly and stored 2 days at 20 °C for shelf-life study. The treatments reduced ethylene production and maintained the firmness and color of the fruit. Peroxidase (POX), catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activities and total phenol (TP) concentrations were measured during storage. Both cultivars showed chilling injury (CI) incidence, and the severity in control fruit was higher than either Put or Spd treatments. CI incidence in Spd-treated fruit was lower than that of Put-treated fruit. Polyamine (PA) treatment generally increased antioxidant enzyme activity of fruit during storage. PA treatments may help maintain the quality of apricot fruit during storage by inhibiting ripening and decreasing CI incidence.     

Multilocus sequence analysis supports a low genetic diversity among ‘<Emphasis Type="Italic">Candidatus</Emphasis> Phytoplasma australasia’ related strains infecting vegetable crops and periwinkle in Egypt

‘Candidatus Phytoplasma australasia’ causes important damages to the Egyptian vegetable crop production. A prerequisite for controlling the different diseases it causes to eggplant, tomato and squash, is to trace its propagation pathways. To allow the differentiation of ‘Ca. P. australasia’ strains, a multilocus sequence analysis protocol was developed. Four conserved phytoplama genes namely tuf, secY, dnaK and dppA, were selected among the CDS of a ‘Ca. P. aurantifolia’ genome draft. The corresponding genes were PCR amplified from tomato, eggplant and squash collected in 2010 from the governorates Sharkia, Elmynia and Beni sueif, as well as from Catharanthus roseus periwinkles collected in 2013 from Kafrelsheikh governorate. Sequence comparisons showed no diversity among the Egyptian isolates of ‘Ca. P. australasia’ that also constitute a distinct cluster within the 16SrII-D taxonomic subgroup. This low diversity supports a common epidemiology for the different diseases affecting vegetable crops and periwinkle in Egypt and suggests that future investigations on insect vector should focus on polyphagous leafhoppers.     

Induction of superoxide dismutase,malate dehydrogenase and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase during enhancing resistance of common bean against Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. phaseoli by exogenous salicylic acid

Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection - Bacterial blight of common bean caused by Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. phaseoli (Xap) is one of the most devastating diseases and causes serious yield...     

Natural Food Selectivity Changes with Weights of Nile Tilapia,Oreochromis niloticus (Linnaeus), Reared in Fertilized Earthen Ponds

This work was carried out to study the relationship between fish weight and natural food selectivity of Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus (Linnaeus) reared in earthen ponds without supplementary diet and to guide the adaptation of feeding and fertilization strategies. Fish were stocked (1.5 fish/m²) in four fertilized earthen ponds (0.1 ha) for 6 months. Fifty fish were sampled monthly to estimate individual total weight and length and evaluate stomach contents. Fish specimens were categorized into different weight classes: <25 g, 25–50 g, 50–75 g, 75–100 g, and 100–125 g. Overall, the 50–75 g weight class had the highest degree of stomach fullness. The intestinal length-fish length ratio was similar across all fish weights, ranging from 2.9–3.4. Likewise, the composition of food items found in fish stomach was ranked as phytoplankton > detritus > zooplankton. Phytoplankton contribution to gut content increased with increasing fish weight, while detritus and zooplankton contribution decreased. Zooplankton never exceeded 1% of total stomach contents. Cyanobacteria, Chlorophyceae, Bacillariophyceae and Euglenophyceae mostly represented the phytoplankton. Bacillariophyceae dominated the phytoplanktonic portion of stomach contents at small fish size (<75 g/fish), while Chlorophyceae is the dominant group at large fish size (> 75 g/fish). Fish could select Cyanobacteria and Euglenophyceae at all fish weights, meanwhile Chlorophyceae and Bacillariophyceae were eaten with slight selectivity at larger weights..